Exposing Error: Billy Graham Part 2

For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them. (2 Peter 2:21)

"Fifty years of compromise have increased Billy Graham's popularity but have resulted in a serious loss of spiritual discernment and Scriptural convictions. Fifty years of compromise have brought Billy Graham into close fellowship and cooperation with millions of those who preach a false gospel and teach dangerous, unscriptural doctrines. His refusal to warn about the false gospel preached by the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches is inexcusable and indefensible. His failure to warn about the dangers of the wildfire teachings of charismatic leaders opens the door for millions of believers to be deceived. Fifty years of compromise have even led Billy Graham into joining with leaders of pagan, heathen religions on the basis of a mutual search for world peace" (March- May 1991 Foundation, p. 16).

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Countercult Corner: Refuting the RCC

As with any cult of Christianity it's important to discern whether or not those professing a certain Christianized belief system are in fact Christian. In order to make this critical determination one must define orthodox Christianity - from inspired scripture alone! - and then compare the competing system of thought to orthodox Christian theism.

Not unlike the Mormons, Catholics place a high value on works, appearances and ritualistic ceremony. To compare the "good works" - by the measure of men - of Catholics (and Mormons) to the nominal professing Protestant church we often find cases where the Catholic (and Mormon) appear to act more Christian than do the true Christians!

But the critical question isn't "How do my works measure up?" but rather "Am I saved?". This leads us to an excellent article I found over at CARM discussing this subject.

Are Roman Catholics Christian?
Are Roman Catholics Christians? They are if they have trusted in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of their sins. However, if they believe that the are saved by God's grace and their works, then they are not saved -- even if they believe their works are done by God's grace -- since they then deny the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice.

Being a Christian does not mean being a member of the Roman Catholic Church. It means being a member of the body of Christ which is accomplished by faith and trust in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of your sins. It means that you do not add your works to His work. Sincerity doesn't forgive sins. Membership in a church doesn't forgive sins. Doing works of penance doesn't forgive sins. Praying to Mary doesn't forgive sins. Forgiveness is received in the faithful trust and acceptance of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. You must trust Jesus, God in flesh, for the forgiveness of sins, not a man made ritual and certainly not the catholic saints. Even though Roman Catholic Church affirms the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and His physical resurrection, it greatly errs in its doctrine of salvation by adding works to salvation.

The official Roman Catholic doctrine of salvation is that the grace of God is infused into a baby at baptism -- making him/her justified before God.1 This justification can be lost through sin and must be regained by repeated participation in the many sacraments found in the Roman Catholic Church. These sacraments increase the measure of grace in the person by which he or she is enabled to do good works which are in turn rewarded with the joy of heaven:

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Exposing Error: Billy Graham

In this short audio file John MacArthur astutely and irrefutably links the apostate universalism espoused by the harlot Roman Catholic Church, Billy Graham and Robert Schueller.

As discussed in my thread entitled Billy Graham's Apostasy, these heretical and unscriptural teachings are undeniably present in modern day evangelicalism and are as spiritually deadly as ever.

I'm reminded of the admonition of 2 Peter 2:21; "For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

Lord, may You empower those who are called by Your name to hold steadfastly to and earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints!

Sola Scriptura

The issue of Sola Scriptura is often (and sadly) little understood, or completely misunderstood by many in today's professing church. It's vitally important that we, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, know what we believe and why we believe it!

Like Sola Gratia, Sola Scriptura is foundational to a correct, Biblical, and proper understanding of the Christian theistic worldview:

The issue of Scripture and Scripture Alone (or what Protestants have come to call the principle of Sola Scriptura) is a matter that divides professing Christians as to the foundation of their faith and what defines their faith. Back in the days of the Reformation when there were men who felt that the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ had been not only corrupted by the Roman Catholic Church, but had virtually disappeared under the mask of human traditions and rituals and things that kept people from actually hearing the good news of Jesus Christ, in order to reform the Church, in order to have the grace of God more clearly proclaimed to people, Protestants realized they had to take a stand not only for ‘Sola Gratia’ (i.e., in Latin, ‘By Grace Alone’ for our salvation), but that had to be proclaimed on the basis of Sola Scriptura (‘Scripture Alone’) because the Roman Catholic Church used its appeal to human tradition in the Church (or what they considered divine tradition in the Church) as a basis for its most distinctive doctrines.

While the entire article linked below is rather lengthy I hope you'll take the time to finish reading Greg Bahnsen's excellent dissertation here

Inside the Abortuary

Psalm 127:3-5, “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.”

I found this compelling dissertation on the evil of abortion over at "A Puritan's Mind":

It is relatively easy to give facts about the abortion epidemic in the world today, and in the United States more specifically. It is one of the greatest moral problems humanity faces in the modern age of medicine. It is the second most common surgical procedure in the United States (circumcision being the first for due reasons). Over 1.7 million abortions occur annually since the Roe v. Wade decision January 22, 1973. This did not mean that abortions did not take place prior to this decision, but it was this decision that legalized murder in the United States.

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Scriptural Encouragement

Psalm 15

1 Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?

2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.

3 He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.

4 In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.

5 He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God, For You

Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
As yet but knock; breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

John Donne